Finishing Second on Big Island

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — The annual Pac-12 Preview finished on Wednesday morning with the final round of competition. Stanford women's golf and UCLA entered the day tied for the lead, while the Cardinal had the individual leader. That all changed during the third round, as the Bruins got a fast start and were able to pull away from the Cardinal, leading to a second place finish for Stanford while the team landed two golfers in the top-four overall.
 
Paula Martin Sampedro entered the day with a chance to win her first tournament. She held a one stroke lead entering the day, and opened it up by a few strokes early on with birdies on the fourth and fifth holes, putting her at 9-under for the tournament. Her hot play cooled then cooled down, as she did not record another birdie the rest of the day, and Zoe Campos of UCLA began to track her down. Martin Sampedro finished the tournament at 7-under, tied for second overall at one stroke back of the win, her first top-three finish as a Cardinal. She also has finished at par or better in 11 of 13 rounds during her freshman season.
 
Entering the day one stroke behind her teammate for the lead, Sadie Englemann had a strong back nine to vault herself back into the top-five. Four of her first eight holes went for bogey, which dropped her nearly outside of the top-ten. However, her back nine was impressive, featuring four birdies that brought her back into contention as the day concluded. She finished the tournament 4-under overall and in a tie for fourth place.
 
Perhaps the most consistent performer of the week was Megha Ganne, who sat right around the par line for the duration of the tournament. Ganne finished the tournament with a 73, which again put her at par and kept her 1-under for the tournament. That earned herself a top-ten finish as scores continued to rise over the course of the week. It is her third top-ten finish of her sophomore season.
 
One of the biggest turnarounds of the week came from Kelly Xu, who posted the team's lowest round of the day with a 2-under 71. Xu struggled during the first two rounds, but turned in her best performance on Wednesday, piling up five birdies, including on her second and third holes of the day. Caroline Sturdza also saw her scores drop over the course of the week, going from a 5-over 78 in the first round to consecutive 2-over 75 rounds.
 
UCLA claimed the win at this year's Pac-12 Preview with the best final round of the field. The Bruins ended the day 4-under, one of just two teams to shoot under par on Wednesday. Zoe Campos of UCLA won despite bogeying on 17, which pulled Martin Sampedro within one stroke of the lead. Arizona, USC, and Washington round out the top-five overall.
 
The next two events will take place on the outskirts of the greater Bay Area. Stanford returns home and will face San Jose State in match play on February 29 at Cordevalle in San Martin, beginning at 10:00 am. The following week, Stanford will head to Fairfax for the annual Juli Inkster Invitational on March 4-5.
 

Pac-12 Preview (Nanea Golf Club, par 73)